This invention relates to novel organosilicon compounds. More particularly, this invention relates to chemically reactive fluorinated organosilicon compounds, wherein the majority of the organic groups bonded to silicon are telomer or cotelomer derivatives of a specified group of fluoroolefins, or derivatives from oligomers of a fluorinated oxetane or a fluorinated oxirane, and to the polymers thereof. The polymers prepared by polycondensation of these organosilicon compounds are characterized by chemical resistance, low coefficient of friction, excellent electrical insulating properties and a high resistance to organic solvents and degradation. Depending on the structure of the constituents, their distribution, the molecular weight of the polymers and presence of units carrying crosslinking situs along the chain, the final compounds can be used as, e.g., fluids, elastomers, sealants, barrier and release materials, coatings and resins.
The proper use of fluorine substitution on organic polymers to improve both the thermal and chemical resistance of the polymer, in addition to providing antiwear, optical and electrical insulating properties to the polymers, is well known.
The most common and commercially available fluorosilicones are typically represented by structures containing the 3,3,3-trifluoropropyl radical bonded to silicon. Many copolymers containing this radical, and longer fluoroalkyl radicals, or containing short alpha, omega-fluoroalkylene radicals linking two silicon atoms along the chain, are disclosed in the journal and patent literature. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,647,740. All of these products suffer to a greater or lesser extent from the tendency to depolymerize under thermal, catalytic or hydrolytic conditions, and their resistance to some organic solvents may be only slightly improved relative to non-fluorinated silicone materials. See, e.g., Ind. Eng. Chem. Prod. Res. Dev., Vol. 23, page 600, (1984). These shortcomings depend on the high frequency along the chain of polar siloxy (SiO) groups and on the relatively low fluorine content of known fluorosilicones.
An objective of this invention is to provide a novel class of reactive organosilicon compounds that can be converted to polymers, fluids, elastomers and resins which do not exhibit the aforementioned disadvantages of prior art fluorosilicone materials.